Category: Middle East

A human fossil found in Isreal in 2002 now shows that humans may have left Africa up to 100,000 years earlier than originally thought. Researchers spent one and a half decades studying an upper jawbone and stone tools found in a cave in Isreal.

The jawbone was found with teeth that were thought to be between 170 000 and 190 000 years old. CT scans helped to build a 3D model, which researchers then compared with other fossils from Africa, Asia and the Middle East.

The tools found nearbysuggest that prehistoric people were busymakingvariousobjects that they used for hunting animals and gathering. While some scientists say that the tools could only have been made by homo sapiens, modern people, others do not ignore the fact that Neanderthals could also have made them.

Up to now, the oldest fossils found outside Africa were also located in Israel. According toarchaeologists, they were no more than 90,000 to 120,000 years old.

The new discovery also sets back the date at which homo sapiens appeared in Africa. While the current theory says that they originated in Africa 200,000 years ago, we now may believe that they actually showed up between 300,000 and 500,000 years ago. If that is true, then they probably left Africa on short trips to other continents as early as 200,000 years ago.

Skull of a Homo Sapiens – Image: Dr. Günter Bechly

Words

according to = as said by …

appear = show up; start to exist

archaeologist = a person who studies ancient civilisations by looking at what is left of buildings, tools etc..

cave = a large natural hole in the side of a hill or mountain

compare = to look at two or more things and find out the differences between them

CT scan = an examination in which the inside of an object is produced on a computer using x-rays

current = now

decade = ten years

discovery = finding something for the first time

fossil = an animal or plant that lived many thousands of years ago and that has been preserved in rock

gathering = to look for plants to eat

homo sapiens = modern man; the type of human that exists now

humans = people

ignore = pay no attention to …

jawbone = one of the bones that are in your teeth

located = found

Neanderthal = early type of human being who lived in Europe during the Stone Age

originally = at first

originate = come from

prehistoric people = people who lived a long time ago, before anything was written down

researcher = someone who studies a subject in detail in order to find out more about it

scientist = a person who is trained in science and works in a lab

skull = the bones of a person’s head

stone tools = early tools that the first people made out of stone; they were used for hunting, gathering food and making fire

Iran’s government has banned English from primary school classrooms in an attempt to fight Western influences. The country has been blaming the West for protests and demonstrations that have been stagedthroughout the country in the past months.

Ayatollah Khamenei, Iran’s supreme leader, has repeatedly blamed the spread of English in schools for destabilizing his country. Authorities say that teaching English at an early age makes it possible for pupils to adopt the culture of Western societies. They state that primary education is the basis of Iranian culture and should be free of Western values.

English language lessons generally start in middle schools, with students aged between 12 and 14. Recently, however, more and more primary schools have been offering English lessons. It has also spread to some of the country’s nursery schools too.

The new ban only applies to the first years of education, where all lessons will be in Persian, the country’s official language.

Primary school class in Tehran – Image: Farzad Khorasani

Words

adopt = here: to use; take on; let something into your country

apply = here: where the ban is in effect

attempt = try to do something

authorities = government organisations that have the power to decide things

ban = forbid; not allow

blame = to say or think that you are responsible for something bad that has happened

destabilize = when a government has problems controlling events that happen there

generally = normally

government = the people who rule a country

influence = power to affect the way something changes or develops

nursery school = kindergarten; school for children between 3 and 5 or 6

official language = the language that all the people in a country speak

primary school = the first years of education; usually between 5 and 11

The Saudi Arabian government has announced that the country will start allowing women to drive cars. The new law will be in effect starting in June 2018. At the moment, Saudi Arabia is the only country in the world that does not let women drive a car. The driving ban has become a symbol of oppression in the kingdom.

In the past Saudi women have had to organize drivers to take them to places in everyday life. If caught driving they risked being arrested and were sometimes even punished. Women were not even allowed to have a driving licence.

Countries around the world welcomed the step taken by Saudi king Salman ibn Abd al-Aziz. Many human rights groups have been fighting for women’s rights , including the right to drive, for years.

In the last few years, the Middle Eastern kingdom has been slowly granting women more rights in an attempt to open up to Western society. In 2015 , women, for the first time were allowed to vote and be candidates in local elections. Recently, the government announced that girls would be allowed to do sports and take part in physical education lessons in school.

Still, Saudi Arabian society is deeply conservative. Women still need a man’s permission to do certain things, including marrying or going abroad. Those who oppose the new law say that it would violate the sharia.

Saudi leaders hope that lifting the driving ban will let women take on a more more active role in the country’s booming economy.

Words

announce = to say something officially, in public

arrest = to take a person to the police station because they have done something wrong

attempt = try

ban = to forbid something

booming = when the economy increases and businesses are very successful

deeply = very much

driving licence = document that says you have the right to drive

government = the people who rule a country

grant = give, award

human rights group = group of people who want everyone to have basic rights, like the right to vote or the right to speak freely

including = also

in effect = here: to start being a law

kingdom = country ruled by a king or queen

lift = remove

local election = when you choose a person to have an official job in a city or town

oppose = to be against something

oppression = to treat someone or a group of people in a bad way and not let them have the same rights as others